Brave At Heart
by RosesFromDrew
Summary: When Scorpius Malfoy goes to Hogwarts he doesn't expect a lot of things, one of them being getting put in Gryffindor and another being the friends he makes.


**Yes, another **_**Harry Potter**_** fanfiction already, although I have not got that far with my other one but I have had this idea for a while now and I really want to write about it. This is going to be very different from my other story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Harry Potter**_**.**

The Hogwarts Express rattled towards its destination of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A boy with a pale, pointed face, blonde hair and grey eyes had been one of the last to board it, thanks to the fussing of his mother, Astoria Malfoy. His name was Scorpius Malfoy and he was now cursing his mother in his head, annoyed that he couldn't find an empty compartment thanks to her worrying. He passed a compartment that had only two people seated in it and, knowing that it was most likely the emptiest compartment on the train, he opened the door and sat down before examining the two other people. There was one boy and one girl. The boy had messy, jet black hair and green eyes. He was wearing a pair of glasses with a circular frame. The girl had bushy red hair and large front teeth and she was already wearing her brand new Hogwarts robes. He recognised them both, thanks to his father, Draco Malfoy, who had pointed them out at the station. Albus Potter and Rose Weasley. He knew that his father respected their parents, partially to do with the fact that Harry, Albus' father, had saved his father. Draco had never told his son much about his past but he had mentioned the rivalry between himself and Harry and that Harry was 'a good man'. Scorpius had never asked Draco about his past because, although it interested him greatly what his father had been like and what had happened to him when he was younger, Scorpius could tell that Draco didn't want to talk about it and he knew it would do no good to push.

Albus and Rose turned to look at Scorpius as he sat down. Rose raised her eyebrows.

"That was rude. You could have asked if that seat was free," she said. Scorpius rolled his eyes.

"There's no one sitting in it and if you're saving it then tough because the rest of the train is full," he replied, a cold tone in his voice. Rose narrowed her eyes slightly and she and Albus glanced at each other.

"Dad warned me against you," Rose snarled. "He told me to beat you in every test and I plan on doing just that. You didn't have to be rude!" Scorpius scoffed.

"I don't really care," he replied in a bored tone. What was it to him if this girl tried to beat him? Nothing. It didn't matter at all as long as he got good marks himself.

"I bet you're going to be in Slytherin," Rose said, glaring at Scorpius. Scorpius scowled back.

"Better than Gryffindor! Who wants brawn when you can have other (so much better) qualities?" he asked rhetorically, not expecting an answer. To both of their surprises, Albus then cut into the conversation.

"Dad said there's nothing wrong with being in Slytherin," he piped up. "He said that the bravest man he ever knew was in it." He then screwed up his face. "I don't really want to be put in there though. I don't want to be sly."  
"What do either of you know?" sneered Scorpius. "It's a waste of my time just talking to you." Rose spluttered in indignation and Albus glared at Scorpius but he ignored both of them completely, staring straight ahead of him at the empty seat in front.

The compartment door slid open with a bang and Rose (who had been fuming quietly) and Albus (who had been scowling deeply) both jumped and turned towards the door. Scorpius didn't look at all fazed by the sudden loud noise and turned slowly to see who was there. There was another boy Scorpius recognised at once standing in the doorway. James Potter looked like an older version of his brother (or a younger version of his father) but he had brown eyes instead of green. Apparently he looked just like his grandfather, not that any of the surviving Potters had ever known him properly. Harry had been just one when his father had been killed. Behind James stood a tall boy with ginger hair, who Scorpius took a second to place. He realised that this must be Fred Weasley, the son of George Weasley (who had named him Fred after his twin who had died in the war) and Angelina Johnson.

"Aw, look at the ickle first ye-" James began excitedly, laughing at Albus and Rose's expressions, before spotting Scorpius. Both James and Fred, who had been grinning widely at Albus and Rose, were now frowning slightly at the sight of Scorpius.

"Scorpius Malfoy," said James slowly, almost testing the words. "What are you doing here?" Scorpius shrugged.

"Sitting," he replied simply, speaking as if James was completely stupid. James glared slightly.

"I'm not an idiot. I was just wondering why you were bothering my little brother and my cousin," James said angrily. "I will not hesitate to use this on you," he added, drawing his wand and pointing it straight at Scorpius, who eyed it but wasn't worried or put out in the slightest.

"Everywhere else was full," he said. "It's not like I want to be here with these two." Once again a sneer could be detected in his voice. That was something else, along with the way he looked, he had got from his father. James, Fred, Albus and Rose all glared at Scorpius, who wasn't at all phased by this.

"James, I think we've found the perfect guy to prank," Fred said to the boy standing next to him, who nodded in agreement as they both broke into evil grins.

"You know what Fred? I think you're right. And he'll probably be in stinking Slytherin," James added.

"I hope so," said Scorpius coolly, "for it is the best house as the others all rubbish and the qualities you need to be in them are stupid." James and Fred, who were both Gryffindors, scowled menacingly and Albus and Rose, who both _wanted_ to be put in Gryffindor, glared at Scorpius yet again.

"No it's not!" Albus said, his voice loud and shaking with anger. "You don't have to be nasty about houses that are not your favourite." Scorpius dismissed Albus' comment with an eye roll and a scoff.

"I'm not being nasty, I'm just stating a fact," Scorpius replied, before smirking slightly. "And anyway, he-" Scorpius nodded towards James, who looked slightly confused. "-said something about Slytherin first." All of the Potters and Weasleys looked at each other but none of them seemed to have anything to say about that and Scorpius, after waiting for a moment for a reply, turned away smirking and went back to staring straight ahead

"Well, we best be on our way," James said, recovering quickly and exchanging smirks with Fred.

"Why?" asked Albus, not really wanting to be left with Scorpius Malfoy. He knew Rose was there too, but the more Potters and Weasleys, the better in his opinion.

"Things to do, people to prank," replied James.

"Slytherins to annoy," Fred added, shooting one last look at Scorpius. They both turned and left, muttering to each other about a new prank.

"Anything from the trolley dears?" The cheerful voice of the witch with the trolley of food floated into Scorpius, Albus and Rose's compartment. Albus and Rose jumped up immediately, Albus excited that he could buy whatever he wanted without his parents there to make sure he didn't buy too much and Rose pleased because, although she tried to hide it, she had her father's massive appetite. Both of them also got up because they wanted to get away from Scorpius, but neither of them voiced that out loud. Scorpius sat completely still in the compartment, ignoring everything going on around him.

"I'll have five Chocolate Frogs-" Albus collected Chocolate Frog Cards and was thrilled by the fact that his father, his aunt and uncle and some of the people he knew really well were on them "-a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and a Liquorice Wand," Albus listed. The witch nodded and Albus picked everything up before handing the witch some silver sickles and a couple of bronze knuts and heading back into the compartment.

"Please may I have a packet of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, two Pumpkin Pasties, five chocolate frogs," Rose said, making a metal note to let Albus have the Chocolate Frog Cards. "Oh and three Cauldron Cakes and some pumpkin juice." Rose handed over a pile of coins before carrying her food and drink inside. Albus looked at her.

"Blimey," he muttered but Rose didn't hear. "Um, Rose, are you planning on sharing with someone or it that all for you?" he asked. Rose flushed a faint pink.

"Er…I'm not sharing," she mumbled, embarrassed. "But you can have the Chocolate Frog Cards!" she added brightly, causing Albus to grin.

"Cool, thanks, Rose," he said happily as she smiled back at him.

"Pig," muttered Scorpius, finally glancing up to see what Albus and Rose had bought. He took care to mumble loud enough for Albus and Rose to both hear but he directed the comment at Rose.

"Shut up!" she snapped. "It's not my fault I have Dad's food-loving genes!" Albus narrowed his eyes at Scorpius too, making it obvious that he was on Rose's side, not that anyone thought he would be on Scorpius' side.

"Leave my cousin alone!" Albus growled in anger. Scorpius raised his eyebrows and, for a second, looked like he was going to say something more but instead he just turned back away from them and went back to staring at the seat. Albus and Rose looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. In their opinions, Scorpius Malfoy was one strange guy.

There was a light knocking at the compartment door before it slid open.

"I thought I saw you two in here," a slim, tall, blonde haired girl said. Rose looked thrilled to see this girl, Albus looked surprised and Scorpius just looked at her questioningly, wondering who she was and why she was there.

"Victoire!" Albus exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" he asked. Rose smacked him on the head. "Ow!"

"Don't be rude!" Rose told him in her 'bossy-don't-mess-with-me' voice.

"I'm sorry," Albus apologised sincerely. "I was just wondering why you were here and not down at the prefects carriage. I thought the Head Girl was meant to go there too." Victoire nodded.

"I am meant to be there but it doesn't mean that I can't visit my two little cousins to check on them," she said. Rose smiled at Victoire, who smiled back. Albus grinned too but Scorpius looked annoyed. He didn't have a large family (he was related to Teddy Lupin but his family and Teddy's family were not close in the slightest) and he had no friends, so he was not used to people checking on each other to see how they were doing.

"Great, another one," he groaned gloomily. "I guess you're another Weasley." Victoire looked at him with a distasteful expression.

"Ah," she said. "Scorpius Malfoy. You looked just like how Harry described your father. I'm Victoire Weasley." Scorpius nodded.

"I know that now," he told her coldly (and rudely). "Didn't I just say that you were another Weasley? And I heard them call you Victoire." Victoire looked rather shocked at his rudeness. She had heard stories about Draco Malfoy but she had hoped that he had at least brought his son up well, now that he knew how bad he had been and now respected Harry, Ron and Hermione. Apparently his son was as bad as he had been though.

"Leave Victoire alone!" snapped Albus crossly. Rose nodded, showing her agreement, her red curls bobbing with the movement.

"She's done nothing to you!" added Rose sharply. Victoire held up a hand to them to tell them to stop.

"But-" began Rose.

"We want to _help_-" started Albus but Victoire shook her head before turning to Scorpius.

"Now, I am Head Girl," she told him, "and I can make sure that you are punished for any bad behaviour." Scorpius smirked up at her.

"I'm not _afraid_ of you," he said, acting as if the idea was insane, before going back to his staring.

"Just leave him to stare," Albus murmured to Victoire when she opened her mouth and it looked like she was going to reply back to Scorpius. Victoire looked at Albus and, at seeing his pleading look, complied.

"Why do you want me to just leave him?" asked Victoire curiously. Albus shrugged.

"He stays like that for a while and I prefer it went he doesn't make his nasty comments," Albus explained. Victoire nodded in understanding as Scorpius turned back to them, glaring. Albus, Rose and Victoire couldn't stop themselves from flinching at the coldness in it.

"I am here you know. I can hear every single word you're saying." His voice was as cold as his gaze. Victoire felt ashamed. Just because this boy was rude, it didn't mean that she had to sink to his level and be rude right back.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again," she apologised. Scorpius nodded once to show he knew she meant it and he accepted it before looking away and going back into his thoughts. "So are you two ok?" she asked Albus and Rose, who both nodded.

"I'm nervous though," Albus admitted, glancing at Rose to make sure she didn't find his worries stupid. She smiled encouragingly so he turned back to Victoire and expressed his fears. "I know it doesn't matter what house I'm in but I really, _really_ want to be in Gryffindor and I don't think I could stand it if I went away else, especially Slytherin. Our whole family had been in Gryffindor and imagine how James will react," Albus finished with a shudder. He found that it felt good to get it all off his chest and into the open. Victoire smiled kindly at his fears.

"You will be in the best house for you and all of us will support you in it. Yes, even James," she said. Albus looked disbelieving. "Oh, he will. He _is_ your brother and you know us Weasleys and Potters. We stick together through everything." Albus brightened up considerably after Victoire's speech. "Well, I best get going. Goodbye."  
"Bye Victoire!" Rose said, smiling and waving.

"Bye and thanks," Albus said shyly. Victoire waved back at Rose and turned but just before the door properly shut she stopped for a moment.

"Oh and Al, it was brave of you to tell us your fears like that. You definitely showed some Gryffindor in you." And then she was gone, leaving Albus looking stunned but glowing with happiness. Victoire always seemed to know exactly what to say.

Albus and Rose were talking and laughing quietly to each other for the rest of the journey. Scorpius made no attempt to listen to them – he didn't really care what they were talking about. When the Hogwarts Express pulled up at the station, Scorpius, Albus and Rose were all in their robes (Rose had in fact been in her robes at the station) and ready to go. They all climbed off the train one after the other before moving quickly off to the side, Albus and Rose almost as keen to separate from Scorpius as he was from them.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" a half-giant with wild, tangled hair and a bushy beard boomed over the crowd.

"Hagrid!" cried Albus and Rose, waving madly. Hagrid waved back.

"All right Albus, Rose?" he asked loudly and they beamed and nodded at him. Scorpius watched the exchange silently, his expression not giving anything away. He followed Albus and Rose as they headed over to Hagrid.

The first years all followed Hagrid down a steep, dark, narrow, slippery path, tripping and stumbling as they went.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts jus' round this bend here," Hagrid called back to them. They turned the corner and nearly everyone gasped loudly. Albus and Rose's faces were shining with wonder and excitement. Scorpius, however, didn't react at all in any way to the sight of the castle glittering with lights on top of a mountain. A lake, which looked black in the dark, stretched out in front of the castle, the lights from the castle reflecting off it and making parts of it almost sparkle.

"Look at the boats," whispered Rose to Albus in excitement. "Mum and Dad told me we'll have to ride in them up to the castle."

"Only four to a boat!" Hagrid told everyone. Rose and Albus climbed onto a boat, followed by another red-haired girl.

"Lucy!" exclaimed Rose. "We were wondering where you were."

"Molly let me sit with her and Roxanne," Lucy said. Albus and Rose nodded in understanding. Molly was Lucy's older sister and Roxanne was Molly's best friend and Fred's younger sister.

Scorpius, seeing that once again there was no where else for him to go, had followed Lucy onto the boat. Looking at her red hair, he groaned.

"Are you yet _another _Weasley?" he asked, annoyed. Lucy nodded shyly.

"Yes," she replied quietly, her eyes darting to glance at Scorpius and then look away again. Albus and Rose turned their gazes towards Scorpius, irritated by the fact that he was there and that he was being rude to Lucy who could rival Victoire's kindness.

"What are you doing here with us?" asked Albus, surprised that Scorpius had followed them after they had got on so badly.

"There was no where else to go. Trust me, I don't like sitting here with you," Scorpius sneered. Rose was fuming at Scorpius' insult.

"You know, Lucy here has a sister, Molly, who's a year older than us and another Weasley and Molly's best friends is Roxanne who is Fred's younger sister. Dominique, Victoire's younger sister is in sixth year and Louis, Victoire and Dominique's younger brother is in fifth year," Rose said, goading Scorpius and trying to irritate him. She could tell it worked from the frown on Scorpius' face. "I have a younger brother, Hugo, and Albus has a younger sister, Lily, both of whom are two years younger than us and will be coming to Hogwarts in a couple of years," she added.

"You forgot Daisy and Harry," Albus supplied. "Daisy and Harry Dursley. Daisy's in fourth year, Harry's in second year. They're our cousins on Harry's side. Well our second cousins once removed or something like that. I'm not sure what the exact term is," Albus mused. "All I know is they are our father's cousin's children."

"You lot are everywhere." Was Scorpius simple but true comment on that. There was a relation of one of them in every year at Hogwarts.

"FORWARD!" bellowed Hagrid, after he had settled into a boat himself and checked everyone was in. The boats started out across the smooth surface of the lake towards the castle. When they reached the cliff, Hagrid shouted for everyone to duck (which they did) and they were all carried along dark passageways up to a little underground harbour, where they all climbed out of their boats and over rocks and pebbles up to grass in front of the castle. They followed Hagrid up some stone steps to a huge oak door. They had finally arrived at Hogwarts.

"Everyone here?" asked Hagrid, and, when everyone looked around and nodded, he raised his huge fist and knocked loudly three times on the castle door. The first years all waited for the door to open in silence, ready to enter Hogwarts castle for the first time.


End file.
